How to integrate your Agent with Zendesk

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Prerequisites

• Admin access to your Zendesk account.
• Familiarity with embedding JavaScript snippets in your website or configuring SDKs in mobile apps.

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1. Obtaining the Zendesk Signing Key (Key ID and Secret Key)

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What is a Signing Key?

• App ID (kid): Unique identifier for the signing key.
• Secret Key: A shared secret used to generate JSON Web Tokens (JWTs).

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Steps to Obtain the Signing Key

1. Log in to your Zendesk Admin Center.
2. Navigate to Account > Security > End user authentication.
3. Under the Messaging tab:
   • View existing signing keys or create a new one by clicking Create key.
   • If creating a new key, ensure you copy the Secret Key immediately, as it will not be fully visible later.
4. Save both the App ID and Secret Key securely.

Note: Refer to the Zendesk documentation for more details.

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2. Finding the Web Widget Key

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Steps to Locate the Web Widget Key

1. In the Admin Center sidebar, go to Channels > Messaging.
2. Click on the Web Widget you want to configure.
3. Scroll down to the Installation section.
4. In the provided JavaScript snippet, locate the key parameter:
   Copy

   <script id="ze-snippet"
           src="https://static.zdassets.com/ekr/snippet.js?key=k833c615-1ccb-..."></script>
   

5. Copy the key value (k338c615-1ccb-... in this example).

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3. Embedding the Web Widget

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Web Widget Installation

1. Copy the JavaScript snippet provided in the Installation section:
   Copy

   <!-- Start of Zendesk Widget script -->
   <script id="ze-snippet"
           src="https://static.zdassets.com/ekr/snippet.js?key=YOUR_WEB_WIDGET_KEY"></script>
   <!-- End of Zendesk Widget script -->
   

2. Paste the snippet into your website’s HTML, right before the closing </body> tag.
3. Save and publish the changes.

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Authentication with JWT

• Set the user ID in the Web Widget configuration.
• Generate a JWT token using your Key ID and Secret Key.
• Include the following user data in the JWT payload:
  • name (optional)
  • email (optional)

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4. Validation and Testing

1. Verify the Web Widget Key is correctly set in the script.
2. If using JWT authentication:
   • Ensure the Key ID and Secret Key are valid.
   • Confirm the JWT token is generated and passed correctly.
3. Test the chat functionality on the website or mobile app.

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Example JWT Token Generation

const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');

const secretKey = 'YOUR_SECRET_KEY'; // Replace with your Zendesk Secret Key
const payload = {
  name: 'John Doe',         // User's name (optional)
  email: 'john@example.com' // User's email (optional)
};

const token = jwt.sign(payload, secretKey, {
  algorithm: 'HS256',
  expiresIn: '1h', // Token expiration time
  keyid: 'YOUR_KEY_ID' // Replace with your Zendesk Key ID
});

console.log('Generated JWT Token:', token);

Note: Use a secure backend to generate JWT tokens. Avoid generating them on the client-side.

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References

• Zendesk Developer Documentation
• JSON Web Token (JWT)